I knew an Auburn fan would clear up my misstatement about Auburn having two mascots. The Eagle is not a mascot. OK, got it. It's a battle cry. It looks like an eagle to me. But, I guess you have to be there.
Anyhow, I promised some photos from the Gators first game, and here they are!
First, we start with the Gator Walk. Urban Meyer started this new tradition when he came to Gainesville. Two hours before the start of each home game, the Gators walk into the stadium. This is great for fans, because if you show up, you get to see all the players and coaches. Fun.
On this trip, it was just one of the TCD twins and I. My oldest DD is at school at FSU, and the other TCD twin decided that this was not her scene. We planned this trip at the very last minute, and headed to Gainesville without tickets. Tickets should be easy to come by for Charleston Southern, right?
So, here is my DD waiting for the Gator Walk to begin. We got there early, and she got a prime spot right next to a police car. You are supposed to wait behind the police cars until they close the road and the Gator Walk begins. As you can see, after she got her prime spot, a bunch of folks came and stood in front of her, where they were not supposed to be. But, don't worry, this girl has been to a lot of Jonas Brother concerts. She has dealt with rabid teen girls clawing to get to the front of general admission audiences. These middle aged Gator fans are no match for her:
As soon as the road is closed, the police officers line the walk route, and folks are now allowed to come forward. You can see that DD has made it to the front:
The Gainesville police department gained some notoriety a few years back with the "Don't taze me, Bro!" incident, but these guys were very cordial. There were a lot of them, though:
See the guy in the Smokey the Bear hat? A guy behind me was commenting (a little too loudly) about the resemblance between this guy and the Sheriff portrayed by Jackie Gleason in the Smokey and the Bandit movies. That cracked me up! He was right! But, he was saying it a little too loudly! Also notice how these guys have my DD sized up as a trouble maker. One of them positioned himself right in front of her, so he could taze her, if needed.
Right away, the procession starts. Here come some players:
I wish I could tell you who these guys were, but it turns out that without their uniforms and jersey numbers, it is hard to tell one player from the next. They looked like a bunch of clean cut college students. If I was still college aged, I would put on a shirt and tie, and jump in the Gator Walk. That would be funny, right?
Here's a face I recognize. Coach Meyer! He has brought two National Championships to Gainesville, and is on track for a third!:
This is the Gator Defensive Coordinator, Charley Strong:
I don't know who this player is, but the guy behind me did, and called his name. I think he's somebody important:
I don't know this guy either, but check out the 'fro on this man. Looks like it is shaped perfectly to fit into a helmet! Heck, if he painted it orange, he might not even need a helmet:
Check out this player's watch:
Bling!
I am not sure who this player is, but in this photo we get a good look at Smokey. I have to LOL at this photo- if his moustache was just a little thinner, he would be a dead ringer for the Bandit's nemesis:
Here's someone that we can all recognize. The best college football player in America, and maybe of all time:
I had positioned myself across the street from my DD at the Gator Walk, because I hoped to be able to get a photo of her with Timmy. But, as you can see, things were a bit hectic when Timmy came by. My DD did get to grab Timmy's arm, though. We will try again for a photo another time.
Tebow brought up the rear of the Gator Walk, and then we were off to tailgate.
Those of you who attended UF in the '80's will surely remember these guys:
As I mentioned, we did not yet have tickets for the game, so we stood outside the West part of the stadium trying to buy tickets:
Earlier in the day, I saw lots of folks trying to sell tickets, and I thought we would have no problem getting a couple. But, as game time approached, we saw way more people looking for tickets than we did people trying to sell tickets. We were approached by several sellers, but they all were trying to get over face value, or they had bad seats. My DD was getting more and more anxious as I turned down the potential sellers. Don't worry, I told her, as the start of the game approaches, the sellers will get nervous, and we will get a good deal. Game time was at 7 pm. At 7 pm we were still standing outside the stadium. Along with a bunch of other folks holding up their fingers. Uh-Oh!
We stood there as a huge vintage jet flew over the stadium. We stood there as we heard the crowd cheer the beginning of the game. We looked far and wide. No one was trying to sell tickets. No problem, I thought, we will walk around the stadium, and find ourselves a ticket seller. So, we walked all the way around the stadium. And, we didn't see anyone trying to sell tickets. Uh-Oh again!
But, oddly enough, a ticket window on the West side of the stadium was open, and it looked like people were buying tickets. We walked up, and they were selling tickets! I am not sure what this was about. I think they didn't open this window until after the game started. So, I bought some tickets. I figured they would be bad seats. But, at least we would get in to see the game.
So, well into the first quarter, we found our seats. We were on the student side of the field, at about the 40 yard line, about 50 rows up! This was our view:
Those were some good seats! I don't know what the deal was, but I am glad we got them.
There is a new score board in the South end zone:
Also, notice how they left room to add a 2009 next to the 2008:
Here is our view of the North end zone:
And, check out all the people sitting behind us:
In Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the drink sellers are called Thirst Technicians:
I would love to have one of those shirts.
The game was a mismatch, and Timmy didn't even play the whole first half, but we had a good time.
After the game, the players gathered together in the middle of the field for a prayer. This always impresses me, and it bothers me that they never show this on TV:
We stayed for the singing of the Alma Mater in the North end zone:
And, then we were out of there.
I hope to get to at least one more game this year.
Go Gators!
War Tebow! (that's a battle cry) (?)
TCD
).
Gig 'em Ags!
, but I vividly remember them from the early 
